A UK petition to sanction Brazil as a record number of blazes ravage the Amazon rainforest has reached nearly 115,000 signatures.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations would release more than $20 million of emergency aid to help countries battle wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
But Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he wants Macron to withdraw the "insults" made against him before he considers accepting the money.
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Macron last week accused Bolsonaro of lying about his environmental commitments, while the Brazilian leader has mocked the looks of the French leader's 66-year-old wife.
A petition to place sanctions on Brazil can be found on the UK Government and Parliament website.
Many of the blazes in the rainforest are thought to have been started, drawing international concern because of the Amazon's importance to the global environment.
The petition says deforestation threatens indigenous populations who live in the rainforest.
"Indigenous people have called for the EU to impose trade sanctions on Brazil to halt the deforestation because they fear genocide," the petition says.
UK Parliament considers all petitions that receive more than 100,000 signatures.
The petition says the Amazon's deforestation is of global significance.
"The intrinsic value of the rainforest should also be recognised."
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Indigenous people of Brazil have also proposed a boycott of businesses that have exploited or invaded Brazilian land that is protected, according to the Ecologist.
Members of Brazil's Mura indigenous tribe painted their bodies with orange-red paint and took up longbows and clubs as they headed into the jungle this week, prepared for battle.
There are more than 18,000 Mura that live in Amazonas state, the largest and best-preserved state in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Newshub/Reuters
